Beet-harvester.



J. P, APPLEBY.

BEET HARVESTER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 20, 1906. @4}4;L @y?g Patented Nov. 19, 1912.

, 8 SHEETS-SHEET l.

J. F. APPLEBY.

BEBT HARVESTER.

APPLICATION IILED APR. 20. 1906.

Patented 0V. 19, 1912.

3 SHEBTSSHBET 2.

messes Inventor;

J. P. APPLEBY.

BBET HABVESTEE.

Arrmuumw FILED APR. 20, 1906.

Patentefl Nov. 19, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ii: a

BEET- TES PATENT ormon.

PLEBY, OE CHQECAGO, ILLINOIS.

flpectfloatiou of letters Patent.

a lication filed a n so, 1906. Serial No. 312.519

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that i, Jorm F. APPLEBY, citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and btate of Illinois, haveinvented a certain-new and useful Improvement in Beet-Harvesters, ofwhich the following is a full, clear concise, and exact descriptlon,reference belng had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to beet harvest ng machines, and has severalobjects in view which will be more fully hereinafter set aid forth inconnection with the drawings showing the preferred embodiment thereofand the invention will be particularly stated in the claims.

in the drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevation of the preferred embodimentof my machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. lfig. 3 is a view of thegage roller. Fig. i s a plan view illustrating the cutter and foliagegathering mechanism.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughoutthe difl'erent figures. v

While the drawings show a specific embodiment of the invention, it isunderstood that my claims are not to be limited to this specificembodiment.

in the embodiment shown there is a.

single pair of traction wheels 1 mountedupon a shaft 2 and fixedthereto, this shaft desirably drivin all of the mechanism of themachine. '1 e frame 3 of the machine is rectangular and is provided witha tongue 4, whereby horses may be harnessed thereto. There are twodriving sprocket chains 5, 6, or other equivalent means of transmittingpower, the chain 5 serving to remove the uprooted beets, while the chain6 serves to operate the knife or cutting mechanism, which is preferablyadapted both to remove foliage from the beets and to crown the same,though I do not wish to be limited to this double function of thecutting mechanism.

The sprocket chain 6 is driven by a sprocket gear wheel"? attached tothe driving shaft 2, this sprocket chainengaging another sprocket wheel8 mounted upon the counter shaft 9, upon which counter shaft there isdisposed a s rocket gear wheel 10 operating asproc et chain 11 thatengages a sprocket wheel 12 operating a shaft 13. The

shaft 13 carries a gage roller 14 constitutmg a part ofthe cuttingmechanism provided with a plurality of knives 15 extendmg longitudinallyof the roller (preferably, but not necessanly, parallel with the axis ofthe roller). The'frame 16 that carries this gage roller is pivoted at 17to the plates 18. Said frame 16 may be elevated and lowered by means ofthe quadrant lever 19 and the cooperating rack 20 a chain 21 connectingsaid frame 16 with said lever. A continuation 19 of the frame carries aplate 20 which supports a cutting tool 21, preferably serrated information, the knives 15 advancing toward the serrated portion of thecutting tool 21- so that the beet tops are confinedbetween an engagingknife 15 and the cutting tool 21, whereby that portion of the beet whichit is desired to remove, may be cut away. The cutting tool 21 pref.erabl reciprocates in a plane that is substantially coincident with thelevel of the ground, so that the portions of the beets projecting abovethe ground may be all substantially removed, this operation being calleda crowning operation. The free edges of the elements 15 are sharpened toconstitute knife edges, so that the said edges Patented Nov. 19, 1912,

may pass through the foliage and firmly grip that it will drive the gageroller at such a speed that an engaging knife blade 15 moves backwardwith reference to the beet as the vehicle moves forward. By thismovement of an engaging blade 15, said blade is caused to approach thecutting tool 21 as said tool is worked into the beet, so that theabutment adorded by the element 15 is not removed as the tool 21 entersthe beet. It will be seen that the beet is firmly held in place by anengaging rib element 15 which travels rearwardly with reference to thebeet at about the same rate that the cutting tool a enters the beet, theground further acting toward the cuttin mechanism associated therewith,or, if desired, said roller may track upon the ground.-

The said gage roller is therefore a machine trailing gage roller, and Ibeheve to be important to provide a machinetraihng' gage roller havingrib format1ons 15 (,whether said rib formations are provlded with knifeedges or not) that travel toward the working cutting tool 21, so that assaid cuttin tool works its way into the beet, the ri formation is movedtoward the same to continue the purchase upon the beet, whereby saidcutting tool ma perform its function, and, in the preferr embodiment ofthe invention, the travel of the gage roller is such that not only isthe desire purchase afforded, but the beet is actively forced tool 21. rThe shaft 22 is provided with a bevel pinion 23 adapted for engagementwith one or the other of two bevel inions 24, 25 accordin to thedirection 0 movement of said shaft 22 by means of lever mechanism 26that is articulated to a sleeve 26 through which the shaft 22 passes.The object of providing an alternative ar connection for the bevel gear23 will hereinafter set forth. Assuming that said bevel gear 23 is inengagement with either of the bevel gears 24, 25, the crank portion 27of the shaft 22 is rotated, wherethrough means of link connections 28,29, the cutting tool 21 is reci roc'ated. A strap 30 is supported by theame 16 and carries at its upper end a journal for the shaft 22, wherebythe lower end of said shaft is mounted, the upper end of the shaft beingprovided with a sleeve .31 surrounding the shaft 9. The shaft 22therefore is provided with a journal mounting in the frame 16 and movestherewith. The same shaft 22 carries a sweeper 33, which is thereforeoperated. at a speed proportional to the speed of operation of thecutting tool 21, whereby the said sweeper may remove the beet tops asfast as they are discharged from'the cutting mechanism. The plate 20 isitself continued or supports a continuation 34 which is disposedpartially beneath the swee r, so that the beet tops will not findlodzment upon the ground, but are lodged upon the su port 34, wherebythe sweeper may sweep said beet tops from a surface that is always fixedwith respect to the axis of rotation of the sweeper. I believe this tobe an important feature of my machine, for I believe I am the first todischarge the beet tops upon a shelf or support carried by the vehicle,whereby substantially all of the beet tops are bound to be swept away.The plate 20 is preferably bifurcated as indicated in Fig. 4 and has twodownwardly extending noses 20 which noses, together with the bifurcatedportions of the plate 20, act asfenders to gather the foliage, wherebythe foliage is bound to fallupon the extension 34. The opposing marginsof the bifurcated portions of the plate 20 converge toward the cuttingtool so that the gathering of the foliage may be gradual.

Hitherto where the beet tops were disposed directly upon the ground, thesweepers did not always move the same from the path of the diggers 35and conveying mechanism 36 so that hitherto the beet tops werefrequently carried with the crowned beetsby the conveyer.

In order that the beet tops may not find lodgment upon adjacent rows ofuncrowned beets, I have provided the adjusting lever mechanism 26 andthe two gears 24, 25, whereby the direction of rotation of the sweeper33 could be governed according to the direction in which the beet topswere to be cast, and this I also consider to be a very important featureof construction in beet harvesters.

After the beets have been crowned or topped, the diggers 35 uproot thesame and the conveying chain 36 carries the uprooted beets up the chute37, from which chute the beets are discharged into a channel-way 38leading to a suitable receptacle. The conveyer chain 36 is desirablyprovided with forks 39 that straddle the uprooted beets and force theirconveyance along the chute. The diggers 35 are pivoted to the frame at40 about where the chute has its lower termination, and an adjustingdevice, such as the chain 41 and hook 42, may be employed to determinethe position of the points of the diggers in the ground or to elevatesaid diggers entirely away from the ground, as desired.

In order thatthe soil ma from the beets before the be removed ts aredischarged from the machine, I provide upon the upper shaft 43 a crank44 operating a pit-man45 connected at its lower end to the basket,trough or out 38 having a screen bottom. As thecham travels, the pitman45 causes the spout 38 to rock upon its pivot 39 whereby said spout isshaken for the purpose indicated. In order that the beets may not becarried past the spout by the forks, I provide a stripper 46 projectinginto the path of the beets and forcing their removal from the forks. Thestripper is desirably so placed that it will occupy a position betweenthe members of the forks as the forks pass the point of the stripper.

The mechanism described in the last two paragraphs forms the subjectmatter of my division of this application, which divisional applicationwas filed July 12, 1906 and bears Serial No. 325,759.

While I have herein shown and particularly described the preferredembodiment of my invention, I do not wish to be limited to the precisedetails of construction, but,

Having thus descrlbed my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters- Patent:

in addition to the cutting mechanism, and a single shaft in directdriving connection with the cutting and sweeping mechanisms, saidsweeping and cutting mechanisms being united and swingingly mounted.

4. A beet harvester including cutting mechanism, rotatable sweepingmechanism, supplied in addition to the cutting mechanism, for sweepingbeet tops to one side, and means for changingthe direction of rotationof the sweeping mechanism, said sweeping and cutting mechanisms beingunited and swingingly mounted. a

in witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 10th day of AprilA. D., 1906.

JOHN F. APPLEBY. Witnesses:

G. L. CRAGG, LnoN STROH.

